During the 1950s, N.C. Hunter was a leading British
playwright. Now his name has fallen into oblivion. This makes Hunter’s
work the perfect hunting ground for Mint Theater Company, which
three years ago revived the playwright’s “A Picture
of Autumn.”

In “A Picture of Autumn,” Hunter exhibited
for the first time a strong Chekhovian influence. The Mint’s
current production, “A Day By the Sea,” written two
years later, continued with themes of intergenerational conflict,
regret and the inability to change. Except, while “A Picture
of Autumn” was not picked up for a West End run after its
one- night debut, “A Day By the Sea” ran for 386 performances
at the Haymarket. Directed by John Gielgud, who also played the
lead, diplomat Julian Anson, the production featured notables such
as Irene Worth and Sir Ralph Richardson.

However, “A Day By the Sea” did not fare
so well on Broadway, running for only 24 performances. Perhaps this
was a sign that Hunter, along with other writers of his generation,
Noel Coward, Terrence Rattigan and J.B. Priestly, would soon be
supplanted by younger, grittier and angrier playwrights.

For this revival, the Mint has brought back the much
esteemed Austin Pendleton to direct. They have also assembled a
more than capable cast, with Julian Elfer as the less than successful
diplomat and Katie Firth as the twice divorced Elinor Eddison, the
girl he let slip through his fingers twenty years ago. Jill Tanner
is excellent as Laura Anson, Julian’s concerned and sometimes
confused mother, and Polly McKie gives the play pathos and humor
as Miss Mathieson, the governess of Eddison’s children. While
Philip Goodwin is outstanding as the drunk and dissipated Doctor
Farley, who cares for the aging Uncle David (George Morfogen)

. But all this is not enough to overcome the cumbersome
plot and the glacial slowness with which it unwinds. There are two
basic questions that have to be answered in this drama. Will Elinor
and Julian be able to find the the lost path that might have led
to happiness? Will Doctor Farley and Miss Mathieson be able to bridge
the barriers of age and class so they will not end their lives lonely
and miserable? It doesn’t take three hours to answer these
questions.

If Chekhov’s characters spend all their time
bemoaning their fate and trying to decide whether or not to leave
for Moscow or chop down the cherry orchard, they have a certain
charm and quirkiness that makes us bear with them. The same is not
true for the people who inhabit the Anson’s seaside home.
While Chekhov’s characters are warm, funny and foolish, Hunter’s
are stiff and unemotional. When we hear the axes chopping down those
trees at the end of “The Cherry Orchard,” we feel real
pain, but when we realize Elinor and Julian cannot set back the
clock, we expect she will do just fine without him, probably finding
another man she can inflict with her narcissism; and he will straighten
his tie and go forth to woo a woman who will be more susceptible
to his charms (or lack of them). As for Mathieson and Farley, Hunter
does not devote enough time to their possible romance to allow us
to care.

There are times the Mint really does discover lost
gems. This is not one of them.